Forever
by Robin Jeannene
Summary: What would have happened if Edward hadn't been in time to save Bella from James? Two chapters, one from Edward POV and the other from Bella POV. Rated T for mild violence.
1. Forever

**Disclaimer: I, in no way, own any part of Twilight or its sequels. That's Stephenie Meyer's department.**

I never wanted it to end like this. It was all my fault, why couldn't I have just left when I had the chance? I wanted to die, I deserved as much after what I had done to the most perfect being to ever walk the earth.

Bella Swan was dead.

I had killed her.

Indirectly of course but it was still my fault. If I had had the strength to leave her when I had the chance, she would never have been exposed to James.

I killed him of course, and Victoria too when she tried to stop me. I wasted no time on them, they didn't deserve my time. They took my love from me.

Now I was empty, I had nothing left. As I held her lifeless body, I wished I could cry for her, but there was one thing I could do for her. I decided I should join my love.

_NO!_ I was suddenly bombarded by my sister's horrified and silent outburst, having seen the outcome of my decision. _Edward, you can't! I won't let you! _"Edward, please don't!Please!" she pleaded.

"What's he planning?" Jasper asked anxiously, reading his wife's horror and my own resignation.

"He wants to die!" she cried. "He plans to go to the Volturi to get them to do it!"

"NO!" Emmett shouted. He leaped at me with hardly a though, so that I had barely a millisecond to react. I leaped away, still holding my lifeless Bella in my arms.

"You can't stop me, Emmett, none of you can!" I growled, glaring at my siblings and father.

_Son, I know you're hurting right now, and I know there's nothing anybody can say to console you, but know that I respect your decision. There is nothing on this earth that could stop me if Esme died. But know that we'll miss you more than anything. _Carlisle's thoughts surprised and touched me. He could never know how grateful I was to hear that. Then he surprised me more with what he said rather than what he thought: "Edward, Aro will never agree. Your ability would be too precious to waste."

Alice saw my resolve waiver._ Yes! s_he exclaimed silently. She couldn't think of any other way to kill a vampire.

Frankly neither could I. Not that I tried to think too hard on it, if Alice saw me figure something out, she would be on it to try and dissuade me. I didn't want that.

The best course of action right now would be to leave, take myself far from Forks and anything else that would remind me of my pain.

Alice saw me wandering the Sahara Desert, then it changed to the Outback, Australia, then the Amazon Rainforest, Antarctica, The Himalayas, Siberia, barren islands in the middle of the Pacific...

"No, no, no! Edward, you can't leave us!" she cried.

"I have to," I nearly wailed. "I can't stand it here without her! When she came into my life, she was everything. She made everything brighter, and now that she's gone, I drown in darkness, and nothing matters anymore..." How I wished I could cry, to let it all out.

_Edward, I can see how you're feeling, _thought Jasper. _And I can understand your pain, I also understand that there is nothing anybody can do for you at this point. I would be lost without Alice. I'll make sure you can leave without hassle if necessary._

The thing about Jasper is you don't have to actually tell him when you're grateful, he can feel it. I decided that now was the time to leave.

"No!" Alice shrieked and leaped to grab me, but I was too quick. As I left at top speed, carrying my Bella, I could hear the sounds of Alice and Emmett, blocked by Carlisle and Jasper, trying to go to me.

I buried my love in the meadow where I first showed her the real me. Where I first proclaimed aloud my love for her. Why did it feel like so long ago? Was it really only four days? Impossible.

I stayed for a short time, knowing that Alice would see and come and find me, Esme and Emmett too.

I wandered to all of the places Alice had seen me go, staying for only a few months at a time, very nearly starving myself most of the time, having forgotten to hunt.

It was when I decided to go back to Forks that I heard it; the sweet sound of laughter, not just any laughter, my favorite sound second only to the sound of my Bella's beating heart: My Bella's beautiful laughter. It seemed to echo all around me, to sing to me as I once sang to her. Then, amazingly it changed to words, and with those words came the most lovely scent in the entire universe. Freesias and strawberry.

_Edward, _my Bella called.

"Bella?" I asked, unsure. Could vampires go insane?

_Edward, I'm here._

"Where? I can't see you."

More laughter. _Time to visit the optometrist._

And then, amazingly, she was before me, semitransparent, and dressed the way she was on the day she died. She smiled at me in that adoring way. Thankfully, her cause of death was not apparent in this apparition. I wasn't sure I could have handled myself if I had seen the tear in her throat that James had made.

"I'm so glad you're still alive," she told me, her voice more clear now.

"Bella...I...I don't know what to say...I...how...?" I was at a loss for words.

"How am I here?" she prompted with a smile. I nodded. "I'm a ghost, Edward. Bound to the Earth because of my love for you."

"But...how?"

She chuckled. "Good people go where they most want to go when they die." I flinched at the word. "I wanted to go wherever you go, so here I am, in my own version of heaven, forever."

I was in shock. Then my phone buzzed, it had been doing that constantly since I left.

"That's Alice," Bella said. "You should probably answer it."

I nodded numbly and answered the phone. "Alice?"

"Edward! Is she...?"

"Yeah, I'm standing right in front of her. Alice it's a miracle."

"You're coming home," she said with the authority that told me she'd seen it. "We'll talk then." Click.

"Come on, Edward," said Bella, holding her hand out to me. "Let's go see your family again."

I hesitantly took her hand. It was as soft and warm as always. But wait, if she was a ghost...

"How am I able to touch you?" I asked.

"Best not to question it, my love. We have all of eternity to ask such questions, let's just enjoy the moment of being together again."

I agreed. Let's not spoil the moment with silly questions. We would have later to discuss such things. The important thing was that she was here with me, she would never again be harmed, and we would always be together. Forever.

**A/N: Yeah it's kinda mushy, but hey I wrote it in like ten minutes. Bring on the flame! Unless you liked it... either way comment please! **

**Let me know if you want a sequel or something. If I get five people to tell me they want one, I will add a chapter to this one and make it a proper story, instead of the one-shot that it is.**


	2. Ghost Story

**A/N: Okay, I know you guys have been waiting for this and I haven't quite gotten five reviews for this yet, but I finally came up with a chapter two and I hope you like it. It's a long one so sit back and relax.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own it.  
**

* * *

**Ghost Story**

It hurt so bad.

James tore into my throat. I could feel my blood leaving me and a cold emptiness replacing it. My heart was beating franticly, urging on my death. I knew I was dying; there was no stopping it at this point.

Suddenly the pain ended. I wasn't cold anymore. I was warm and sort of comfortable. I could hear voices.

I don't know how I knew, but I knew it was my family, my vampire family. I didn't quite know what was going on, but I understood enough that they were grieving over me. Edward, my Edward, was grieving worse than all of them. He was going to find a way to kill himself.

'No!' I tried to shout. No voice came out. 'You can't die! I'll stay with you, you don't have to die!'

But no one could hear me. Finally, Edward just left, he wasn't going to kill himself, he just wanted to be alone. He took my body with him. I couldn't see any of this but somehow I just _knew_.

I wanted to stay with my Edward but I could feel myself fading and floating away. 'No!' I cried silently. 'I want to stay!'

* * *

I was in a new place. I had no form, no sight, no touch, no nothing. But I could almost hear something. Not in my ears, because I had none, but sort of in all of my being.

I heard voices, many, many voices. Some were confused, some were crying, some were scared. Very few were relaxed and calm.

'What's going on?' I asked no one in particular.

'You are dead,' said a voice.

'I already knew that,' I responded. 'Where am I?'

'As far as I can tell,' said another voice. 'We're all in a sort of In-Between Place. Souls come and go. Some go screaming.'

'In-between place?' I asked. 'Between what?'

'Heaven and Hell,' said another voice.

'How did you die?' the first voice asked me.

'A vampire,' I said. It probably didn't matter to tell dead souls. Who were they going to tell?

'So they really _do_ exist,' a third voice said in awe.

'I often wondered...' said a fourth.

'Maybe she's lying,' said a fifth.

'You can't lie here, I've tried,' said the second voice.

'Really?' asked the fifth voice.

'Really,' said the second. 'Try saying something outrageous.'

I wondered what to say. Maybe something really crazy like "I'm a flying giraffe." I decided to try that. 'I'm a f-... a f-...' I laughed. 'It was like slamming into a brick wall,' I commented.

The other voices laughed in agreement.

'So,' said the first voice. 'As I understand it, the good ones get asked where they most want to be. The bad ones are asked nothing and are simply sent off screaming. Which are you, Vampire-Girl?'

'Me?' I asked. Was I just called Vampire-Girl?

'Yes you," stated the second voice. 'Who else was killed by a vampire?'

'I have a name," I said. "You could have asked it.'

'No point, Vampire-Girl,' said the third voice. 'No one has names here, no one can remember them. We just call each other by how we died. I'm Fire-Boy'

'I'm Cancer-Girl,' said the second one.

'I'm Drowned-Girl,' said the first.

'I'm Car-Boy,' said the fifth. 'I got hit by a car on my bike.'

'I died on a bike, too' said the fourth. Bike-Boy. 'I was on a mountain path and hit some uneven ground on a narrow part near a cliff. I fell down the cliff.'

'Good job,' said Car-Boy sarcastically.

I thought about my name, but I couldn't remember it just like Fire-Boy said. There was one name in my mind that I _could_ remember. Just one.

'It's not just _our_ names,' said Cancer-Girl. 'We can't remember _any_ names. I know I had a family, two brothers and my parents, but I can't remember any of their names.'

'Same here,' said Fire-Boy.

'I can remember a name,' I said.

'That's impossible,' said Drowned-Girl.

'You'll find that a lot of things in my life are impossible,' I said.

'Who is it, then? What's their name?' asked Fire-Boy.

'My boyfriend,' I said. 'His name is Edward Cullen.'

'Wow!' nearly everyone exclaimed.

'You must really love this Edward for you to remember his name after death,' said Car-Boy.

'I do,' I said. 'I died protecting him.'

'You stood in front of a vampire for him!" exclaimed Bike-Boy. 'You're one of the good ones for sure!'

'Good to know,' I said.

'Incoming!" cried a voice.

Suddenly I felt two new souls join us in the masses.

'Where are we!' asked a voice in panic. She had a sort of girly, squeaky voice.

'You're dead,' said Drowned-Girl as a way of greeting.

'Dead! But I can't die!'

'It happens to everyone,' said Car-Boy calmly.

'How did you two die?' asked Cancer-Girl.

'I-I don't remember,' said the new girl.

'Think, stupid,' said a horribly familiar voice to the girly one. 'Cut down by those...' he seemed to be searching for a name. '...that coven. You know, the ones protecting that human girl.'

'The Cullens?' I suggested. Hoping I was wrong, but logic told me otherwise.

'That's the name!' said the familiar voice. 'Wait... you sound familiar.'

'I'm that human girl you killed!' I accused. 'You're that hunter from the ballet studio, I came to you because I was worried that you had my mom and I didn't want Edward to come in case he couldn't fight you.'

'Ah so you're the one,' said the hunter. 'You tasted delicious.'

'You're the vampire that killed her?' cried Cancer-Girl.

'Murderer,' a voice whispered. It was carried among the souls, everyone whispering the word over and over again until it became a chant that grew in volume, it grew and grew and grew. Until it was so loud it was deafening to me, even with the absence of ears. I could tell, this chant was a signal to something very ominous to come.

'Stop that!' the hunter commanded. I could hear a quiver of fear in his voice. 'Stop that! I'm a vampire, I have to kill humans to eat. Stop that chanting!'

The chanting suddenly stopped. In its place, was an eerie silence. This was no comfortable silence.

Suddenly a rushing noise could be heard, and with it, the hunter screamed. I was an agonized and terrifies scream. It was suddenly cut short. Silence stayed for just a second longer before the other souls continued chatting as if nothing had happened.

'So, new girl,' asked Bike-Boy. 'How did you die? Do you still not remember?'

'I don't remember anything,' said the new girl. 'I don't know if I want to, though.'

'I think I know who you are,' I said.

'Who am I?' asked New-Girl.

'I remember, you were with the hunter, the one who killed me. You were his mate, you were a vampire. You probably died trying to defend him.'

'Did she help kill you?' asked Drowned-Girl.

'Not exactly,' I said. 'I think she was just carrying out her mate's orders. You can't help who you fall in love with. If she is who I think she is, then she has killed people. But don't get carried away there. Most vampires kill humans for food, just as a human will kill a cow for food. She has almost no choice in the matter. I don't think that she's bad just because her food happens to be humans. She's neither bad nor good, but I think she deserves a second chance.'

"A SECOND CHANCE?" boomed a voice as if from everywhere. All of the souls stopped chattering at once. "YOU THINK THE MATE OF THE ONE WHO KILLED YOU DESERVES A SECOND CHANCE AT LIFE?"

I knew somehow, the voice was talking to me. I also knew it was the one who passed judgment.

'Yes,' I said. 'I forgive her for helping him, but she _has_ killed people. I think that if she had never been a vampire, she wouldn't have done that. Same goes for every vampire.'

"THEN VICTORIA WILL BE REBORN. SHE WILL HAVE A SECOND CHANCE AT LIFE," then the voice was gone.

I knew it! It was Victoria. I hadn't known her name before but now I did and I knew I had been right about who she was.

'I remember now,' said Victoria. 'I have killed people. For food. I had to.'

'It's okay,' I said. 'You'll be reborn. You get to be human again.'

'I almost can't remember being human,' she said.

'If you remember any of this in your next life,' said Drowned-Girl. 'Don't go down any dark alleys, don't go into the woods at night, and um...'

'Live in a sunny place,' I suggested.

'Thank you,' said Victoria. 'Death seems to have sobered me up. I really am sorry to have helped bring about your demise. I wasn't at the time, but I am now.'

'Good,' I said. 'Remorse is good.'

'I can feel myself leaving now, I can see something.'

'What do you see?' asked Fire-Boy.

'I know it sounds stupid, but I see a light at the end of a tunnel... Your voices are getting fainter... I can hear a heartbeat... It's loud... I hear another one... it's not as loud... I think it's mine... I think I'm being born... The louder heart is my mother's... Goodbye. Thank you for the second chance!'

Victoria's voice faded away into nothing until she was gone. The chatter went on as usual.

'Why is it that I died first,' I said, 'but they pass on first?'

'No one goes in any particular order,' said Bike-Boy.

'Oh,' I said.

* * *

I don't know how long I stayed. Time didn't seem to mean anything here. I spoke to many souls, heard many stories. The loud voice asked me questions sometimes. Usually to do with whether I thought one or another soul was good or bad.

Once, I spoke to another couple who were vampires.

'How long have you been here?' I asked.

'Time doesn't mean anything,' said the female. 'But I would wager, we've been here a long time.'

'We were killed by a rival coven in 1562,' said the male.

'I died in 2003,' I said. 'You _have _been here a long time.'

'More than four centuries,' commented the female.

'Do you like it here?' I asked.

'It's boring,' said the male. 'But as long as we're together, we'll make do.'

'We would rather be alive, of course,' the female added.

'I hear you,' I said. 'I miss Edward. I just wish I was with him. I never cared what happened to me as long as he was safe and happy. He's safe I'm sure, or he would have found a way to kill himself by now, but I know he would never be happy if I'm dead. He dedicated his existence to making sure I wasn't harmed. He's probably blaming himself for what that hunter did.'

'Hunter?' asked the female.

'I was killed by a vampire,' I said.

'Oh,' she said. 'I'm so sorry. I was a vampire myself, but I never enjoyed killing humans.'

'Me too,' said the male.

'You could have hunted animals instead,' I said. 'That's what Edward and his family did.'

'Wait,' said the male. 'Your Edward is a vampire?'

'Yes.'

'And you were human?'

'Yes. He probably thinks that if I had never gotten involved with him, the hunter wouldn't have found me.'

'Was your Edward going to change you?' asked the female.

'I doubt it. He would never do anything that would hurt me.'

'That's unheard of,' said the male.

'A lot of my life is unheard of. The man I loved is a vampire. That same vampire saved my life twice. He resisted the call of my blood every day I was with him, so like every day for three months. And he's probably searching for a way to kill himself without his future-seeing sister seeing it and stopping him just so he can be with me.'

'Sounds like he was your mate,' said the female.

'I suppose he was.'

There was a lull in the conversation for a bit.

'The hunter probably died at Edward's hands,' I said. 'I think he's in hell now. He's one of the ones who were dragged off screaming. His mate was reborn as a human infant.'

'I wish I could do that,' said the female. 'Be reborn. But then I would have to leave behind my mate.'

'Same here,' said the male.

'Maybe whatever fate brought you two together in the first place would bring you back together when you got older,' I suggested.

'Maybe…' said the female. 'But it's moot point anyway, it'll never happen.'

'You seem like alright vampires,' I said. 'I wish you could be reborn.'

"DO YOU THINK THESE VAMPIRES DESERVE A SECOND CHANCE AS WELL?" asked the booming voice.

'Yes,' I said. 'But they love each other. That much is obvious. Is there a way that they can be reborn and still find each other again on the other side?'

"VERY WELL…"

'Thank you!' said the female to me. 'Thank you so very much… what are you called here?'

'I'm called Vampire-Girl, for how I died.'

The couple laughed at the irony.

'Thank you, Vampire-Girl,' said the male. 'We have been here a long time.'

'I don't think that voice knew what to do with us until you came along,' said the female.

'I'm glad I can still do good even when I'm dead,' I said happily.

'We're leaving now,' said the female.

'Goodbye,' said the male. 'I wish there was a way to repay you.'

'Your happiness is all the payment I need,' I replied.

I really did feel so much better knowing that I made some souls happy.

I didn't always talk to good souls, though. Some were horrible rapists child molesters and murderers. Murderers were always dealt with quickly. Once someone said the word, it spread like wildfire and the rushing sound would carry off the soul screaming.

I met a few vampires. It was like they had been there since the beginning of time. I quickly realized that most vampires were "good" in the sense that they only killed for food. Looking at it clinically, they hadn't really done anything wrong. But there was no way to be sure how they would have behaved if they had stayed human, so most were sent off to new lives. Others had been sadistic monsters, and there had been really no choice but to declare them "bad". They were sent off screaming.

I never had trouble understanding anyone; everyone could understand everyone here. Fire-Boy had told me that he was speaking Spanish and it sounded to him that that's what language everyone else was speaking. I told him I was speaking English and another voice called Train-Girl (you can imagine how she died) said she was speaking Urdu, a language from Pakistan.

Whoever I spoke to, often moved on soon after. I felt like I would end up being the last one here. Until one time (I would say one day, but there were no days here) all of the souls spoke my name at once. Not my real name, mind you, no one knew that, not even me.

'Vampire-Girl,' they spoke as one. 'You are possibly the best soul to have ever walked the Earth.'

'No, I doubt that,' I said modestly.

"YOU ARE," said the booming voice. 'YOU ARE MORE GOOD THAN ANY OTHER SOUL I'VE SEEN, ISABELLA SWAN."

'Is that my name?' I asked.

"IT IS."

'I remember now,' I said. 'I preferred "Bella".'

"YES. YOU ARE A GOOD SOUL, BELLA. YOU DESERVE WHAT YOUR HEART DESIRES MOST. WHAT DO YOU MOST WANT?"

'I don't have anything I want,' I said.

'But you must be repaid for your kindness to all the souls you have helped,' exclaimed all of the souls at once.

"I WISH TO KEEP YOU HERE IN JUDGMENT OF THE OTHER SOULS," said the voice. "BUT YOU ARE UNHAPPY HERE. I WANT YOU TO THINK OF YOURSELF JUST THIS ONCE AND TELL ME, DO YOU WANT TO MOVE ON?"

I thought. Did I want to move on? Yes, existence here was endless and lonely. But move on where? I was told the good ones were asked where they most wanted to be. Where did I want to be? That was easy.

'I do want to move on,' I said.

"VERY WELL. WHERE DO YOU MOST WANT TO BE?"

'With Edward," I said without hesitation.

"THEN THAT IS WHERE YOU SHALL GO. I WILL MANAGE THE REST OF THE SOULS HERE BY YOUR EXAMPLE ."

'Thank you,' I said. And soon the voices of all the souls were fading and a frozen tundra materialized before my eyes.

I must be in someplace very cold and lonely. Just the place where Edward would want to go to be alone.

I realized that, though I was dressed for Phoenix spring weather, I was not feeling the cold at all. I bent down to touch the frozen ground. It felt solid, but not cold. I laughed at the sheer happiness I felt at being on Earth again. I knew I wasn't alive or I would have felt cold. I must be a ghost. I laughed again at the idea.

Edward must be here. I wouldn't be here if he wasn't. I looked around, where was he?

'Edward,' I called. My voice didn't come out as a sound, more like an idea. I hoped he could hear it.

I could see him now. He was looking around, confused. "Bella?" he asked, sounding uncertain.

He heard me!

'Edward, I'm here,' I wanted so desperately for him to see me.

"Where," he asked peering around. "I can't see you."

I laughed again. Usually he had such good eyesight. 'Time to visit the optometrist,' I said. I remembered saying the same thing about myself when he showed me the meadow.

Even though I was joking about it, I was concerned that he couldn't see me. Maybe if I concentrated very hard... I heard a gasp.

I opened my eyes and I saw him looking directly at me. I smiled at him adoringly. "I'm so glad you're still alive," I finally managed to make a sound, and I _had _been worried I might find him in the In-Between Place.

"Bella...I...I don't know what to say...I...how...?" he barely managed.

"How am I here?" I prompted, smiling. He nodded. "I'm a ghost, Edward. Bound to the Earth because of my love for you." It made so much sense to me, though I have a hard time believing that it would have made sense if I hadn't died. Death gave wisdom apparently.

"But...how?" he asked.

I chuckled. "Good people go where they most want to go when they die." He flinched at the word. "I wanted to go wherever you go, so here I am, in my own version of heaven, forever."

Suddenly I heard a buzzing sound that I recognized. I sounded like a cell phone on vibrate. Alice! Of course! She must have seen me come back.

He barely seemed to register the sound. Alice was going to have a conniption if he didn't answer soon

"That's Alice," I prompted. "You should probably answer it."

He nodded and answered the phone. "Alice?"

I could here Alice on the other end, clear as a bell.

"Edward! Is she...?" she trailed off, unsure.

"Yeah, I'm standing right in front of her. Alice it's a miracle." I smiled. Miracle? Is that what I was? Maybe.

"You're coming home," Alice said matter-of-factly. She must have seen it."We'll talk then." She hung up.

"Come on, Edward," I said, holding my hand out to him. "Let's go see your family again." My family now too.

He took my hand as if afraid I would disappear. When his hand touched mine, he stared at me in amazement.

"How am I able to touch you?" he asked.

I have no idea, but I don't care. "Best not to question it, my love. We have all of eternity to ask such questions, let's just enjoy the moment of being together again." Where did that poetic sentence come from? Death sure changed a lot in me. Maybe I just picked up some things from some of the older souls in the In-Between Place.

"Yes," he said. "Let's not spoil the moment with silly questions."

I smiled. We would spend forever figuring out the answers to such silly questions. I knew he and his family would be eager to find out what the afterlife is like. But until then, we had our time together, and we always will be together. Forever.

* * *

**A/N: So I hope you liked Bella's side of the first chapter. There will be long lengths of time between updates because I don't exactly have a plot yet, so when I figure out a chapter three I'll post it. Feel free to give ideas and constructive criticism. As I say, bring on the flames.**


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